At a Monday evening practice, the Franklin Towne Charter boys basketball team split themselves down the middle and scattered to opposite ends of the court for a shooting competition. Each player had 90 seconds to make as many jumpers as possible from the high posts, and the side with the highest composite score at the end won.

When the Los Angeles Lakers were asserting their dominance en route to multiple NBA championships in the early 2000s, everything revolved around Shaquille O’Neal. Whether it was outworking defenders in the post for an easy layup, or snatching up rebounds to put back up or dish to Kobe Bryant or another teammate for an open look on the perimeter, Shaq’s impact on how gameplans unfolded cannot be overstated enough.